


First Aid

by BronzeAgeLove



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Banter, F/M, Injury, Mild Sexual Content, Nihlus Kryik Lives, death mention, gunshot injuries, violence mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-01 06:12:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15136853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BronzeAgeLove/pseuds/BronzeAgeLove
Summary: After Nihlus survives Eden Prime, the Normandy races towards the Citadel to get him into specialized hands. When Dr. Chakwas alerts Shepard the spectre is awake after a first surgery, she goes down to the medbay to talk to him about the mission. Turns out Nihlus is more interested in banter than in discussing Saren...





	First Aid

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Saphistar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saphistar/gifts).



> Giveaway fic for Saphistar who won my 'Why are you all following me?' giveaway! Hope you'll like it :D
> 
> Also a shoutout to SheKissesTurians who suggested one pivotal sentence and helped me get out of my usual 90% done WIP slump! Thanks sweetie <3

The message came as a relief.

"Commander Shepard? Nihlus is awake. You told me to alert you should it happen."

"Thank you, Dr. Chakwas. I'll be down in five."

Shepard exhaled, felt some of the tension she carried in her jaw subside. Finally some good news after the debacle with Saren on Eden Prime. Her head throbbed ever since she touched that beacon, had made the rest of the world appear bleak, but getting Nihlus out of there was worth it.

If she had to admit it, her first impression of him hadn't been the best. He was smug, treated everyone on the ship with a very light, lingering snootiness, as if he knew everything better. Yet she'd been fascinated by him from the beginning, the way he carried himself, his self-assured air, those incredibly green eyes hitting straight home, a gaze so intense it made her heart skip every time he addressed her.

Him being a shameless flirt didn't make the situation any better. Whenever they met, he kept dropping hints here and there, complimented her in the galley, in passing in the elevator, teased, teased… it was infuriating, and exciting at the same time. Also highly indecent, on an Alliance ship under her command. She'd felt tempted to act on this itch ever since he'd boarded the Normandy and had told herself it was inappropriate, but only after she found him motionless, in a puddle of his own blood, shot through the head by his former mentor, she realized he indeed meant more to her than she initially thought.

Those had been the most horrible minutes of her life, even worse than witnessing her whole squad die on Akuze, seeing the life drain out of him, bit by bit while she tried to staunch the blood flow until, finally, the medical team had landed, whisked him away to the Normandy while Shepard continued to hunt after Saren...

Karin Chakwas looked up from her datapad when Shepard came in, gave a curt nod. She looked tired, blue shadows under her eyes. No wonder, after the last few days, they had been daunting for the whole crew. Chakwas was a brilliant doctor, and while turians were not her specialist field, she'd done a marvellous job patching Nihlus up, keeping him stable until they could get him to the Citadel and into more specialized hands. It wasn't going to be long now, but transit between systems still took time.

"How is our patient doing?"

Chakwas gave a sigh, propped her elbows on her desk.

"He's the luckiest guy I've ever met", she stated after a time, glance fixed on the wall. "I splinted his jaw, mended the worst damage, but I'm by no means an expert on turians and the Normandy has limited dextro supplies. He needs attention from a specialist. I did what I could to keep him stable."

Her gaze wandered over Shepard"s face before she lightly shook her head as if to dissolve her tiredness. "If he can get proper attention and care soon, he should be back on his feet in a month or two, given there are no complications. But even then, I'm not sure he'll ever be his old self again."

Shepard nodded, let the news sink in before she spoke.

"Nihlus has a strong will. We'll tackle the rest later. Can I talk to him?"

"Of course."

Chakwas pushed herself away from her desk, then gestured behind the partition she set up to give the patient some privacy before heading for the door.

"I'll leave you two alone for a moment. Commander, I know you want to discuss the mission but please don't agitate him with questions, Nihlus needs rest. I'll be back after a coffee. His vitals are on my omni-tool, should anything change, I'll be there."

Shepard took a few deep breaths to collect herself, then walked around the desk to the back of the medbay. Chakwas had bolstered the human-issue bed with cushions to support his head and carapace, leaving Nihlus in a half-sitting position. Behind him, a couple of monitors were blinking away, recording his vitals.

He did look horrible, a third of his face covered in bandages, electrodes dotting his neck. One eye was swollen shut, right mandible taped down lest he move it. The bullet had gone in through the base of his skull, narrowly missing the main artery, mangled part of his jaw. An ugly bruise shone through his tan hide all down his neck to his cowl, a dirty greenish colour like a washed-out blot of ink. His shoulders were naked under the covers, dark red and buff against the white of the sheets.

A bitter taste in her mouth, Shepard let her gaze wander over his ravaged face, wondering again and again how he had managed to survive a shot like that.

"Damn Nihlus, you were lucky!"

He laughed as she moved into his field of vision, though it was more of a cough, then gave a pained hiss. Chakwas had spent hours splinting his jaw, and despite the advanced medicine and the doctor's expertise, Nihlus would take a lot of time to recover. Shepard wished the transit to the Citadel wouldn't take so damn long.

"Chakwas said more to the left and I'd have been dead. Thank you, Shepard." His voice was faint, heavy with painkillers. Talking was an ordeal given the severity of his injuries. It was a wonder he had the strength to speak at all, the way he could barely open his mouth.

"How are you being treated?"

He gave a soft chuckle before fixing his bright green gaze on her. As always, it hit straight home, making Shepard's heart flutter and the blood rush to her cheeks. All of a sudden, the world did appear brighter with him around. His one good mandible flared in amusement at noticing the impact he had on her.

"The company is a bit lacking", he said, giving a light shrug with one shoulder.

"What's against Dr. Chakwas?"

"She's missing a certain... appeal."

For some reason, he sounded way too smug than appropriate in this setting. Smiling, Shepard shook her head, cocked one hip. Nihlus had barely escaped death, yet he insisted on flirting, and was not even trying to disguise it. He couldn't be that badly off. Shepard pulled up a chair, sitting down close to him.

His one good eye fell close again, and she saw his hand twitch, still too weary to move, reached out instinctively to squeeze it. She hadn't come down only to banter, there were more pressing matters to discuss.

"Hey handsome, stay with me. I need to know what happened on Eden Prime, between you and Saren."

When he gave no reaction, she leant over, cupped his cheek with her right, his plates rough and warm under her touch, a gesture completely inappropriate for their professional relationship, yet it felt right. To hell with Alliance regulations!

Nihlus cracked open his one good eye again, fixing his gaze on Shepard.

"Hey", he croaked. "If I'm handsome now, you should see me when I‘m back on track ..."

"You will be. We need to talk about Saren, but you should rest now, gather some strength. We'll be at the Citadel soon."

Another lopsided shrug and faint mandible twitch, then a pained groan.

"I don't feel like discussing Eden Prime, Shepard. I could use some help relaxing though", he said, some of his habitual smugness back in his voice.

Shepard chuckled, still ghosting her fingertips over his cheek, tracing each ridge, each gap between the plates, feeling their alien texture. As much as she wanted to know more about Saren and his past, maybe it could wait a little after all.

"Uh-huh. How hedonistic. And what did you have in mind?"

"You can keep doing that for starters", he purred. "Also a little farther down. Might help the healing process."

She arched one eyebrow at him, though she didn't stop stroking his face.

"I'm the superior officer here on this vessel, Mr. Kryik, and I'm not sold on your statement."

Even though he was pumped full of painkillers, Nihlus managed to put some hurt pride in his voice.

"Shepard, indulge a wounded spectre's last wish."

She shook her head, as if she was close to despair. If he wanted to play games, she could, too. She wasn't a bad actress at all. And they could surely use a little break from their trying mission, no harm in that.

"Overly dramatic, are we? I'm a benevolent commander. How about here?"

Her left hand sneaked under the sheets, noticed both with surprise and glee he was indeed naked under the sheets, traced the plates on his chest, feather light touches that made him shiver in anticipation.

"Mmh. A good start, Shepard. A little farther maybe."

She grinned, obediently moved her hand, exploring his body. She hadn't felt this mischievous since she was a teenager, back on that Alliance carrier she'd grown up on. A smile on her lips, she let her gaze roam over him, relishing the way his one good mandible seemed to flare a little as he melted under her touch.

Unnoticed by them, one of the monitors in the back started flashing, reacted to changes in heart rate and hormone balance.

Always intent on his reaction, Shepard let her hand wander, skimmed along Nihlus' waist, giving it a light squeeze that made him groan, not in pain this time. Except for fleeting pats on the armoured shoulder of other soldiers she'd never touched a turian before, and it was strangely exciting, their warmth, the way Nihlus' purr reverberated in her chest, how the room seemed to buzz with his subvocals, telling a story she didn't fully understand. Yes, it was definitely something she could get used to. She _wanted_ to get used to.

"You don't seem very relaxed yet", she teased when she heard him growl and felt him shudder under her fingertips.

"Difference in biology. A little farther down now."

"Nihlus, I did take xenobiology classes, and I know very well what's down there. I need to remind you we have to keep a respectable working relationship."

He turned his head as well as he could in an attempt to show off his fringe, which Shepard recognized as a way of turian flirting. Endearing how he tried.

"I'd say tending to a wounded soldier is very respectable, Commander", he purred, never losing eye contact.

She leaned down, her lips only an inch from his good side, inhaled his alien scent, opened her mouth to speak and -

"What happened?"

The door whooshed open, Karin Chakwas racing into the medbay. Her omni-tool was powered up, flashed a hectic orange.

Shepard flinched. There was barely enough time for her to withdraw her hand from under the sheets and dart upright before Chakwas stormed around the corner. Out of breath, she took them in, both Nihlus on his bed looking rather smug and Shepard with her cheeks flushed, hands clasped in her lap like a meek schoolgirl. When she saw there was no emergency, the doctor exhaled, her shoulders sagging in relief.

"Shepard, I told you not to overwhelm him with questions, Nihlus needs rest."

"Of course." Shepard managed to put a good deal of humbleness into her reply. "I'm sorry, Dr. Chakwas. I pressed on too brashly."

"Not too brashly, no", Nihlus piped up, his good mandible flaring in a grin, subvocals buzzing with satisfaction.

Ignoring Chakwas' quizzical expression, Shepard shot him a conspiratorial glance. There were many things she wanted to explore with him, as soon as he was back on track. Or maybe even before that.

She got up, gave Chakwas a nod and Nihlus' thigh a deft squeeze through the covers. Their eyes locked. Her heart skipped a beat. Oh yes. This was going to be fun very soon.

"Nihlus, I'll check on you tomorrow. Don't dare move."

"Yes, Commander."


End file.
